Cloud Service Providers: ABCs of Disaster Recovery

The cloud has created quite a technological storm throughout the world of insurance. Data storage has become one of the largest security issues to date. Gathering the data is not so difficult, although new ways of accumulating client data keep coming out. Many companies are turning to cloud solutions to store that data. Not surprisingly, there are concerns about the ability to hold onto that data – even when disaster strikes. Disaster recovery (DR) is a huge market, especially in insurance.

The basics are, as the name implies, to have the ability to recover all data after a disaster. This is not a just a lost document or lost file we are talking about here, this is about a server containing 10,000 or 100,000 folders on individual clients suddenly erased from your system. Cloud service providers specialize in the recovery of that lost data, and they can do it quickly and efficiently depending on the DR plan you have instituted.

Determine your DR Requirements

The first step is determining what data needs to be stored. Next, determine if you want to retain a local backup, and then secure a second backup to the cloud. Another option is to create a virtual machine that replicates everything you do locally directly to the cloud. Either of these options will secure your data in case of a disaster. The local to cloud option does leave a little room for error; how much data you could lose will largely depend on how often you back up your data. A virtual machine would be almost instantaneous.

Select Your Cloud Service Provider

Contact a cloud service provider that will meet all of your needs, and who can explain exactly what they can do to meet those needs. Ask as many questions as you want. If they can’t answer you and explain things in a way you fully understand, then they may not be the right provider for you at this time.

Cloud service providers will have an array of options available for your insurance firm. In many cases, you get what you pay for. If you want to fully recover in less than a day’s time after a disaster, then tell them so they can pick out the right plan for you.

Many cloud service providers charge extra depending on the bandwidth used. Also, your local internet provider may have extra costs associated with extreme bandwidth use. Make sure to talk to your provider and find out how much bandwidth is required for the amount of data you expect to back up. You want to back up frequently, but not at the cost of daily tasks.

These are some of the main things to look for when deciding on a DR strategy. After you have information about your particular wants and needs, then you can talk to your cloud service provider about the costs involved to make your plan take root. For more information on how to develop your DR strategy: